McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets (F/A designation for Fighter/Attack). Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations. It has been the aerial demonstration aircraft for the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, since 1986. The F/A-18 has a top speed of Mach 1.8. It can carry a wide variety of bombs and missiles, including air-to-air and air-to-ground, supplemented by the 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon. It is powered by two General Electric F404 turbofan engines, which give the aircraft a high thrust-to-weight ratio. The F/A-18 has excellent aerodynamic characteristics, primarily attributed to its leading edge extensions (LEX). The fighter's primary missions are fighter escort, fleet air defense, Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), air interdiction, close air support and aerial reconnaissance. Its versatility and reliability have proven it to be a valuable carrier asset, though it has been criticized for its lack of range and payload compared to its earlier contemporaries, such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in the fighter and strike fighter role, and the Grumman A-6 Intruder and LTV A-7 Corsair II in the attack role. The F/A-18 Hornet provided the baseline design for the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, a larger, evolutionary redesign of the F/A-18. Compared to the Hornet, the Super Hornet is larger, heavier and has improved range and payload. The F/A-18E/F was originally proposed as an alternative to an all-new aircraft to replace existing dedicated attack aircraft such as the A-6. The larger variant was also directed to replace the aging F-14 Tomcat, thus serving a complementary role with Hornets in the U.S. Navy, and serving a wider range of roles including refueling tanker. The Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic jamming platform was also developed from the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Specifications (F/A-18C/D) ;General characteristics *Crew: F/A-18C: 1, F/A-18D: 2 (pilot and weapons system officer) *Length: 56 ft (17.1 m) *Wingspan: 40 ft (12.3 m) *Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.7 m) *Wing area: 400 ft² (38 m²) *Airfoil: NACA 65A005 mod root, 65A003.5 mod tip *Empty weight: 23,000 lb (10,400 kg) *Loaded weight: 36,970 lb (16,770 kg) *Max. takeoff weight: 51,900 lb (23,500 kg) *Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F404-GE-402 turbofans **Dry thrust: 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) each **Thrust with afterburner: 17,750 lbf (79.2 kN) each ;Performance *Maximum speed: Mach 1.8 (1,190 mph, 1,915 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,190 m) *Range: 1,089 nmi (1,250 miles, 2,000 km) with only two AIM-9s *Combat radius: 400 nmi (460 mi, 740 km) on air-air mission *Ferry range: 1,800 nmi (2,070 mi, 3,330 km) *Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,240 m) *Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s) *Wing loading: 93 lb/ft² (454 kg/m²) *Thrust/weight: 0.96 ;Armament *Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61 Vulcan nose mounted 6-barreled gatling cannon, 578 rounds *Hardpoints: 9 total: 2× wingtips missile launch rail, 4× under-wing, and 3× under-fuselage with a capacity of 13,700 lb (6,215 kg) external fuel and ordnance *Rockets: **2.75 inches (70 mm) Hydra 70 rockets **5 in (127.0 mm) Zuni rockets *Missiles: **Air-to-air missiles: ***4× AIM-9 Sidewinder or 4× AIM-132 ASRAAM or 4× IRIS-T or 4× AIM-120 AMRAAM, and ***2× AIM-7 Sparrow or additional 2× AIM-120 AMRAAM **Air-to-surface missiles: ***AGM-65 Maverick ***Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM-ER) ***AGM-88 HARM Anti-radiation missile (ARM) ***AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) ***Taurus missile (Cruise missile) **Anti-ship missile: ***AGM-84 Harpoon *Bombs: **JDAM precision-guided munition (PGMs) **Paveway series of laser-guided bombs **Mk 80 series of unguided iron bombs **CBU-87 cluster **CBU-89 gator mine **CBU-97 **Mk 20 Rockeye II **B61/Mk57 nuclear bombs102 *Others: **SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod or **Electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod or **AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk Targeting pods (US Navy only), to be replaced by AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR or **LITENING targeting pod (USMC, Royal Australian Air Force, Spanish Air Force, and Finnish Air Force only) or **up to 3× 330 US gallons (1,200 l; 270 imp gal) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time. ;Avionics *Hughes APG-73 radar *ROVER (Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver) antenna for use by US Navy's F/A-18C strike fighter squadrons References Category: aircraft